Georgia (nation)

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Country summary

Capital

T'bilisi

Borders

Armenia 164 km, Azerbaijan 322 km, Russia 723 km, Turkey 252 km

Government type

republic

Population

4,615,807 (July 2010 est.)[1]

Population growth

-0.325% (2010 est.)[1]

Life expectancy

76.72 years[1]

Unemployment

16.4% (2009 est.)[1]

Index of Economic Freedom

26[2]

Corruption Perceptions Index

66[3]

Doing Business ranking

11[4]


The region of present day Georgia contained the ancient kingdoms of Colchis and Kartli-Iberia. The area came under Roman influence in the first centuries A.D. and Christianity became the state religion in the 330s. Domination by Persians, Arabs, and Turks was followed by a Georgian golden age (11th-13th centuries) that was cut short by the Mongol invasion of 1236. Subsequently, the Ottoman and Persian empires competed for influence in the region. Georgia was absorbed into the Russian Empire in the 19th century. Independent for three years (1918-1921) following the Russian revolution, it was forcibly incorporated into the USSR until the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991. An attempt by the incumbent Georgian government to manipulate national legislative elections in November 2003 touched off widespread protests that led to the resignation of Eduard SHEVARDNADZE, president since 1995. New elections in early 2004 swept Mikheil SAAKASHVILI into power along with his National Movement party. Progress on market reforms and democratization has been made in the years since independence, but this progress has been complicated by Russian assistance and support to the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. After a series of Russian and separatist provocations in summer 2008, Georgian military action in South Ossetia in early August led to a Russian military response that not only occupied the breakaway areas, but large portions of Georgia proper as well. Russian troops pulled back from most occupied Georgian territory, but in late August 2008 Russia unilaterally recognized the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. This action was strongly condemned by most of the world's nations and international organizations.[1]

Economical characteristics

  • Currency: Lari (ლ) (ISO code: GEL)
  • Central bank discount rate: 8% (25 December 2008)[1]
  • Commercial banks lending rate: 22% (31 December 2009)[1]
  • Stock of money (M1): $1.077 billion (31 December 2009)[1]
  • Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $1.606 billion (31 December 2008)[1]

Notable events:

Statistics

Statistic / Year 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
GDP (million USD)[6] 2 800 3 057 3 219 3 396 3 991 5 126 6 411 7 762 10 173 12 791
Govt. debt (% of GDP)[7] 71.937 69.938 66.669 64.958 53.806 43.836 40.924 27.958 22.687 27.025
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)[8] 11.530 10.357 10.372 10.463 10.333 16.009 18.144 22.475 24.038 25.699
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)[9] 14.416 11.557 10.812 11.262 10.691 14.578 17.320 20.305 22.891 29.129
Debt to revenue (years) 6.239 6.753 6.428 6.209 5.207 2.738 2.255 1.244 0.944 1.052

References

Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 CIA - The World Factbook. "Georgia", from The World Factbook. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  2. ↑ Heritage Foundation. "Georgia", Economic Freedom Score. A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  3. ↑ Transparency International. "Georgia", Corruption Perceptions Index 2009. A lower ranking is better; but please note that the numbers cannot be compared between countries or years due to different methodology. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  4. ↑ Doing Business. "Georgia", Doing Business 2010 (part of The World Bank Group). A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  5. ↑ Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff. "This Time is Different", Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0-691-14216-6, p. 365. (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-20.
  6. ↑ World Bank. "Georgia: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  7. ↑ World Bank. "Georgia: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  8. ↑ World Bank. "Georgia: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  9. ↑ World Bank. "Georgia: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.

Links

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